CINEUROPA NEWS

FRANCIA
Due vincitori per Cinéma en Construction 37
di Fabien Lemercier
06/04/2020 - La giuria dell'edizione di Tolosa incorona ex-aequo 50 o dos ballenas se encuentran en la playa del messicano Jorge Cuchí e Karnawal dell'argentino Juan Pablo Felix.Two awards were handed out by the principal jury of the 37th session of Cinéma en Construction Toulouse, which unspooled in digital form so as to continue its support, given the current circumstances, of the six selected titles in post-production; titles which aren’t only on the lookout for additional finance, but also partners who can ensure their circulation and access to audiences. The victors? 50 o dos ballenas se encuentran en la playa by Mexico’s Jorge Cuchí and Karnawal by Argentina’s Juan Pablo Felix.
Produced by Mexican group Catatonia Cine, 50 o dos ballenas se encuentran en la playa is the first feature film by Jorge Cuchí. Written by the director himself, the screenplay centres around Félix and Elisa, both 16 years old, who meet while playing the Blue Whale Game. They fall in love and decide to face the game’s final challenge together: suicide.

The film also won the Ciné+ Special Award.
Karnawal, meanwhile, the first fiction feature by Argentina’s Juan Pablo Felix, weaves its web of intrigue (written by the filmmaker) around a carnival on the Argentine-Bolivian border. Here, a young dancer is preparing for the most important competition of his life when his highway-robbing, ex-convict father returns and jeopardises everything… Production is helmed by Argentine group Bikini Films, in co-production with Norway’s Norsk Filmproduksjon, France’s Melocoton Films, Brazil’s 3 Moinhos, Bolivia’s Londra Films, Chile’s Picardia Films and Mexico’s Phototaxia Pictures.
Also well worth a mention are two prizes awarded in a tie-break by the European distributors and exhibitors jury (Europa Distribution and CICAE) to the French-Brazilian production Memory House by João Paulo Miranda Maria (read our article) and to El otro Tom by Mexican director Rodrigo Plá.

For the record, Cinéma en Construction is jointly organised by the San Sebastian Film Festival and Toulouse’s Film Meetings, with a view to lending support to Latin American films in the process of finalisation by way of two separate sessions (focusing on six films in Toulouse in March and on six films in San Sebastian in September). It’s an initiative whose list of previously selected films dates back to 2002 and includes the likes of Tony Manero by Pablo Larraín, Gloria [+] by Sebastián Lelio, Sangre [+] by Amat Escalante, La sombra del caminante by Ciro Guerra, Mariana [+] by Marcela Said, Ixcanul [+] by Jayro Bustamante, La familia [+] by Gustavo Rondón Córdova and The Sharks [+] by Lucía Garibaldi, not to mention Los silencios [+] by Beatriz Seigner.

The list of winners is as follows:
Cinéma en Construction Award (ex aequo)
50 o dos ballenas se encuentran en la playa - Jorge Cuchí (Mexico)
Karnawal - Juan Pablo Felix (Argentina/Norway/France/Brazil/Bolivia/Chile/Mexico)
Ciné+ en Construction Special Award
50 o dos ballenas se encuentran en la playa - Jorge Cuchí
European Distributors and Exhibitors Award (ex aequo)
El otro Tom - Rodrigo Plá (Mexico)
Memory House - João Paulo Miranda Maria (Brazil/France)

SPAGNA
Platino Educa: studiare con il cinema durante l'emergenza coronavirus
di Alfonso Rivera.
06/04/2020 - EGEDA offre alle istituzioni educative questo sito web di film spagnoli e latinoamericani, attraverso il quale i giovani possono approfittare del loro isolamento domestico per imparare con e dai film.
“Stay at home” is the mantra being repeated across the whole of Spain during these days under quarantine, owing to the health crisis caused by the coronavirus. But all these weeks of domestic seclusion can be useful to expand one’s knowledge in virtually every domain, and this is what Platino Educa is primarily dedicated to. The website run by EGEDA, an organisation that manages Spanish audiovisual producers' rights, is intended to teach children and young people to watch films and analyse them, raise their awareness of human rights, and enhance their understanding of the world, its cultures and its history.
This online platform that promotes education through Spanish and Latin American cinema offers specially tailored content to educational institutions, facilitating students’ audiovisual literacy. Universities, schools, and other public and private educational centres can access movies completely legally and thus contribute to the fight against audiovisual piracy, which has had such a huge impact among today’s youth.

In addition, EGEDA is offering institutions such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Sport and Culture, as well as the Ministries of Education and Culture of the country’s autonomous communities, access to this platform at cost price (€4 per student). The portal is packed with numerous feature films (both classic and contemporary), documentaries, shorts and animated flicks, hailing from both Spain and Latin America. They are all sorted by age range, from three years old to adults, and many of them have English subtitles and are supported by their corresponding teacher’s guides, which have been drawn up by film and education experts in order to guide teaching staff in their work.
The content encompasses not only classical subjects such as Literature, Natural Sciences and History, but also values-based education, which touches on aspects that are fundamental to achieving a harmonious coexistence, such as cooperation, human rights, sustainable development and gender equality. “The website was already operational; we’ve been getting it ready for more than a year,” stated Octavio Dapena, the director of Platino Educa, over the phone to Cineuropa. “Just as we were about to start marketing it, that’s when this health crisis blew up. We had spent a lot of time thinking about doing something related to film and education, and it’s designed to be used in the classroom, but – given the current circumstances – we’re opening it up more widely at this time of domestic quarantine, because students can’t actually go to school.

“There is worldwide access to the website: many of the movies can be seen anywhere in the world – in fact, there are a couple of North American universities that are already using Platino Educa,” he continued. “Film is an innovative and entertaining resource; it’s a different way of learning. You can draw a range of conclusions from movies across all subjects. And the teacher’s guides that we’re including are helping to go further down this route: they are additional resources that are admittedly no substitute for traditional ones, like textbooks or all the multimedia content that’s around now, but as it’s online, this is the ideal time to use it.”

Bringing the conversation to a close, the Platino Educa director asserted: “Films keep you entertained while educating you, and in this way, they may just give some boy or girl the bug to start appreciating the seventh art: now, youngsters are so firmly glued to their consoles and other screens that cinema has lost its edge, and sometimes, this happens because kids simply don’t make the effort to get acquainted with it. So Platino Educa is a way to bring them closer to the audiovisual arts as well.”

EUROPA
L'emergenza coronavirus minaccia il cinema europeo
di Cineuropa.
07/04/2020 - Presentiamo una panoramica degli eventi cinematografici cancellati e rinviati, le misure annunciate dalle istituzioni dei vari paesi e le nuove iniziative VoD lanciate durante la pandemia di COVID-19.
The fear of the coronavirus outbreak keeps wreaking havoc across the world, and the European film industry is certainly no stranger to its repercussions. After the alarm was first raised in other sectors, it is now the film industry's turn to suffer cancellations, postponements and reorganisations due to the measures being adopted by various European governments. As the number of infections escalates quickly all across the continent and the authorities attempt to stop it from growing any bigger, film bodies in charge of organising film festivals, markets and other events are being forced to modify them and adapt them to the current situation.

Our partners EFAD and EuroVOD are also providing us with information on the measures taken by its national member institutes and on the initiatives from the nationa VOD initiatives, respectively.

The European Audiovisual Observatory is also tracking daily the specific national measures aimed at supporting the audiovisual sector, which you can access to here.
Here is the list of events cancelled or postponed as of 7 April:

Austria
Measures from the Austrian Film Institute
Initatives from VOD platforms Lacinetek.de, Vodclub.online (read more)
Cinemas closed
17th Vienna Shorts (original dates 28 May-2 June, moved online)
17th Crossing Europe Film Festival Linz (original dates 21-16 April, cancelled)
23rd Diagonale - Festival of Austrian Film (original dates 24-29 March, cancelled)
Belgium
Measures from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Film and Audiovisual Centre (read news)
Initative from VOD platforms universcine.be, Tënk, Nok-Ze-Doc (read more)
Cinemas closed
14th Festival International du Film Policier de Liège (original dates 7-10 May, cancelled)
23rd Brussels Short Film Festival (original dates 22 April-3 May, postponed)
8th MOOOV Film Festival (original dates 21 April-4 May, partly moved online, party postponed to Film Fest Gent, October, and Film Festival Oostende, January)
38th Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival (original dates 7-19 April, cancelled)
19th Courtisane Film Festival (original dates 1-5 April, cancelled)
11th Millenium Documentary Film Festival (original dates 27 March-4 April, postponed September-October)
15th Docville (original dates 25 March-2 April, postponed to 23 Septembre-1 October, Docville Online during the confinement)
35th Mons International Film Festival (original dates 5-13 March, stopped before end) (read news)
Belarus
6th Northern Lights Nordic-Baltic Film Festival in Belarus (original dates 23-30 April, postponed)
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Initative from VOD platform Pickbox NOW (read more)
Cinemas closed
Bulgaria
Cinemas closed
24th Sofia International Film Festival (original dates 12-31 March, postponed) (read news)
Croatia
Measures from the Croatian Audiovisual Centre
Initative from VOD platform Pickbox NOW (read more)
Cinemas closed
16th ZagrebDox (original dates 15-22 March, postponed) (read news)
ZagrebDox Pro still taking place online (read news)
Czech Republic
Measures from the Czech Film Fund
Cinemas closed
All MIDPOINT Institute activities planned for April and May (postponed)
22nd Cinema on Border/Kino na Hranici/Kino na Granicy (original dates 1-5 May, postponed to 21-26 August)
33th Finále Plzeň (original dates 16-22 April, postponed to 24-29 September)
27th Prague International Film Festival – Febiofest (original dates 19-27 March, cancelled) (read news)
Czech Works in Progress still taking place online
22nd One World Prague International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (original dates 5-14 March, cancelled)
Cyprus
Cinemas open, attendance restriction
18th Cyprus Film Days International Festival (original dates 3-11 April, postponed)
Dot.on.the.map Industry Days (moved online)
Denmark
Measures from the Danish Film Institute (read news)
Cinemas closed
17th CPH:DOX (original dates 18-29 March, moved online) (read news)
Estonia
Cinemas closed
Film and TV Awards ceremony (original date 2 April, postponed)
15th Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival (HÕFF) (original dates 30 April-2 May, set to be postponed or moved online)
Finland
Measures from the Finnish Film Foundation (read news)
Cinemas closed
Jussi Awards ceremony (original date 20 March, postponed)
31st Espoo Cine (original dates 4-10 May, postponed)
8th Season Film Festival (original dates 26-29 March, postponed to autumn)
France
Measures from the CNC (read news + news + news)
Initative from VOD platforms FilmoTV, Kinow, Lacinetek.com, Tënk, Universciné, Nok-Ze-Doc (read more)
Cinemas closed
67th Cannes Lions festival (22-26 June, postponed for 26–30 October)
44th Festival du film d'animation d'Annecy (original dates 15-20 June, cancelled)
MIFA - Marché International du Film d'Animation (original dates 16-19 June, cancelled)
73rd Cannes Film Festival (12-23 May, possibly postponed) (read news)
11th Festival 48 Images Seconde (15-19 April, cancelled, replaced by an online programme)
12th Festival international du film policier de Beaune (original dates 1-5 April, cancelled)
57th MipTv (original dates 30 March-2 April) (cancelled) (read news)
3rd Canneséries Festival (original dates 27 March-1 April, postponed to 9-14 October) (read news)
5th Festival du Film Subversif de Metz (original dates 25-29 March, cancelled)
32nd Cinélatino, Rencontres de Toulouse (original dates 20-29 March, cancelled)
11e SériesMania (original dates 20-28 March, cancelled)
42nd Festival International de Films de Femmes de Créteil (original dates 13-22 March, cancelled)
42nd Cinéma du Réel Festival (original dates 13-22 March, moved online) (read news)
10th Festival 2 Cinéma de Valenciennes (original dates 10-15 March, cancelled)
Germany
Measures from the German Federal Film Board (read news)
Initatives from VOD platform Lacinetek.de (read more)
Cinemas closed
39th Munich Film Festival (original dates 25 June-4 July, cancelled)
66th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (original dates 13-18 May, postponed, alternative edition to be held online)
19th goEast – Festival of Central and Eastern European Film (original dates 5-11 May, partly moved online, partly celebrated throughout the rest of the year)
Georgia
8th CineDOC Tbilisi (original dates 23-27 April, postponed)
Greece
Measures from the Greek Film Centre
Cinemas closed
22nd Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (original dates 5-15 March, possible new dates end of May/beginning of June) (read news)
Agora Doc Market still taking place online (read news)
Hungary
Cinemas closed
3rd Friss Hús Budapest International Short Film Festival (original dates 23-29 March, postponed)
Budapest Debut Film Forum (original dates 24-26 March, postponed)
Iceland
Measures from the Icelandic Film Centre (read news)
Cinemas closed
Edda Awards ceremony (original date 20 March, postponed)
Ireland
Measures from Screen Ireland
Some cinemas closed
Italy
Measures from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism (MIBACT) - Directorate General for Cinema and Audiovisual (read news)
Cinemas closed
David di Donatello Awards ceremony (original date 3 April, postponed to 8 May)
35th Lovers Film Festival (original dates 30 April-4 May, postponed)
22th Udine Far East Film Festival (original dates 24 April-2 May, postponed 26 June-4 July)
68th Trento Film Festival (original dates 25 April-3 May, postponed)
34th Bolzano Film Festival Bozen (original dates 21-26 April, postponed to 9-14 June)
21st Festival del Cinema Europeo di Lecce (original dates 18-25 April, postponed)
13th Pordenone Docs Fest - Le voci dell’inchiesta (original dates 15-19 April, postponed)
42nd Incontri Internazionali del Cinema di Sorrento (original dates 15-19 April, postponed)
10th Rendez-vous, le Festival du Nouveau Cinéma Français - Rome, Bologna, Florence, Milan, Naples, Palermo and Turin (original dates 1-6 April, postponed)
21st Sottodiciotto Film Festival & Campus (original dates 28 March-3 April, postponed to 5-11 December)
18th BAFF - Busto Arsizio Film Festival (original dates 28 March-4 April, postponed)
10th Ca’ Foscari Short Film Festival (original dates 25-28 March, postponed)
30th Festival Cinema Africano, Asia e America Latina - Milano (original dates 21-29 March, postponed to 2-10 May)
11th Bif&st - Bari International Film Festival (original dates 21-28 March, postponed)
14th Reggio Calabria Film Fest (original dates 16-21 March, postponed)
27th Sguardi Altrove Film Festival (original dates 13-21 March, postponed to 7-15 May)
38th Bergamo Film Meeting (original dates 7-15 March, postponed to 23-31 May) (read news)
Kosovo
Cinemas closed
Latvia
Cinemas closed
Lithuania
Cinemas closed
Initatives from VOD platforms KinoFondas, Kino Pasaka (read more)
25th Vilnius International Film Festival Kino Pavasaris (original dates 19 March-2 April, moved online) (read news)
Meeting Point – Vilnius (original dates 30 March-1 April, cancelled) (read news)
Luxembourg
Initative from VOD platforms VOD.lu, Tënk, Nok-Ze-Doc (read more)
Cinemas closed
10th Luxembourg City Film Festival (original dates 5-15 March, stopped before end) (read news)
Malta
Measures from the government (read news)
6th Valletta Film Festival (original dates mid-June, cancelled)
Montenegro
Initative from VOD platform Pickbox NOW (read more)
Cinemas closed
Netherlands
Measures from Netherlands Film Fund (read news)
Cinemas closed
36th Imagine Film Festival (original dates 16-25 April, cancelled)
6th Sport Film Festival Rotterdam (original dates 15-18 April, cancelled)
12th Go Short – International Short Film Festival Nijmegen (original dates 1-5 April, cancelled)
11th MoviesThatMatter (original dates 20-28 March, cancelled, partly moved online)
2nd Maghreb Film Festival (original dates 26-29 March, postponed)
20th Arab Film Festival (original dates 25-29 March, cancelled)
North Macedonia
Measures from North Macedonia Film Agency
Initative from VOD platform Pickbox NOW (read more)
Cinemas closed
Norway
Measures from the Norwegian Film Institute (read news)
Cinemas closed
Poland
Measures from the Polish Film Institute
Cinemas closed
60th Krakow Film Festival (original dates 31 May-7 June, moved online)
13rd Animator Festival (original dates, 10-16 July, postponed to 3-9 October)
17th Millennium Docs Against Gravity Film Festival (original dates 8-22 May, postponed to 4-13 September)
22nd Cinema on Border/Kino na Hranici/Kino na Granicy (original dates 1-5 May, postponed to 21-26 August)
18th Polish Film Festival Kinoteka (original dates 19 March-15 April, postponed)
12th Short Waves Festival (original dates 17-22 March, postponed to August)
Portugal
Measures from the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual
Cinemas closed
Sophia Awards ceremony (original date 22 March, postponed)
28th Curtas Vila do Conde (original dates 11-19 July, postponed to 3-11 October)
17th IndieLisboa – International Film Festival (original dates 30 April-10 May, postponed to 25 August-5 September)
13th Festa do Cinema Italiano (original dates 1-9 April, postponed)
2nd FICLO (March 28-April 5, postponed)
20th Monstra - Lisbon Animated Film Festival (original dates 18-28 March, postponed)
Romania
Cinemas closed
Gopo Awards ceremony (original date 24 March, postponed)
19th Transilvania International Film Festival (original dates 29 May-7 June, postponed)
13th One World Romania International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (original dates 20-29 March, postponed)
Serbia
Initative from VOD platform Pickbox NOW (read more)
Cinemas closed
Slovakia
Measures from Slovak Audiovisual Fund
Cinemas closed
28th Art Film Fest Kosice (original dates 19-27 June, postponed)
27th Bratislava International Film Festival – Febiofest (original dates 11-17 March, cancelled) (read news)
8th Visegrad Film Forum (original dates 10-14 March, cancelled) (read news)
Slovenia

Initatives from VOD platform Pickbox NOW (read more)
Cinemas closed
Spain
Measures from ICAA
Cinemas closed
23rd Docs Barcelona (original dates 20-30 May, moved online)
17th Festival Internacional de Cine de Alicante (original dates 23-30 May, postponed to 17-24 october)
29th CineEurope (UNIC - International Union of Cinemas annual convention) (original dates 22-25 June, postponed to 3-6 August)
10th D'A Film Festival (original dates 30 April-10 May, moved online)
6th Filmadrid (original dates 5-13 June, cancelled, only online initiative The Video Essay is being celebrated)
1st Iberseries, Fetival internacional de series en español (original dates 25-30 May)
16th DocumentaMadrid (original dates 4-10 May, postponed)
19th Play-Doc International Film Festival (original dates 29 April-3 May, postponed)
20th Festival Internacional de Cine de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (original dates 17-26 April, cancelled)
4th BCN Film Festival (original dates 17-24 April, postponed to 19-26 June)
3rd Festival Cine hecho por Mujeres de Madrid (original dates 15-26 April, postponed to 17-28 June)
6th SACO. Semana del Audiovisual Contemporáneo de Oviedo (original dates 10-19 April, postponed)
3rd MajorDocs Creative Documentary Film Festival (original dates 31 March-4 April, postponed)
6th Muestra de Cine Francófono de Madrid (original dates 19-22 March, postponed)
23rd Málaga Film Festival (original dates 13-22 March, postponed)
3rd Oh La Là Festival de Cinema Francòfon de Barcelona (original dates 12-21 March, postponed 1-10 October)

Sweden
Measures from the Swedish Film Institute (read news)
Initatives from VOD platform Triart Film (read more)
Some cinemas closed
1st M:brane Forum (original dates 10-12 March, cancelled)
Switzerland
Measures from the Federal Office for Culture
Initative from VOD platforms Tënk, Nok-Ze-Doc (read more)
Cinemas closed

Swiss Film Award ceremony (original date 27 March, postponed to Locarno Film Festival, 5-15 August)
(The awards will be announced on 23 March, and handed physically at the Locarno Film Festival)
51st Visions du Réel (original dates 24 April-25 May, moved online, read news)
8th Locarno L’immagine e la parola (original dates 28 to 29 March, cancelled)
18th FIFDH Genève (original dates 6-15 March, cancelled with online events)
Ukraine
49th Molodist Kyiv International Film Festival (original dates 30 May-7 June, postponed to 22-30 August)
17th Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival (original dates 20-29 March, postponed)

UK
Measures from the British Film Institute (read news)
Cinemas closed
74th Edinburgh International Film Festival (original dates 17-28 June, postponed)
2nd Docs Ireland in Belfast (original dates 10-14 June, postponed)
10th Hawick Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival (original dates 30 April–4 May, moved online during 1-3 May)
20th Belfast Film Festival (original dates 1-9 April, postponed to be merged with Foyle Film Festival, November)
16th Manchester International Short Film Festival (original dates 21-29 March, postponed)
34th BFI Flare (original dates 18-29 March, cancelled)
13th Glasgow Short Film Festival (original dates 18-22 March, postponed)
24th Human Rights Watch Film Festival in London (original dates 12-20 March, cancelled)

Out of Europe.
(Worldwide) Initatives from VOD platform Medici.TV (read more)
(Israel) 22nd Tel Aviv's International Documentary Film Festival Docaviv (original dates 21-30 May, postponed to 3-12 September) (read news)
(Mexico) Premios Platino (original dates 1-3 May, cancelled)
(Mexico) 35th FICG Guadalajara International Film Festival (original dates 20-27 March, postponed)
(Qatar) 6th Qumra (original dates 20-25 March, cancelled)
(Turkey) 39th Istanbul Film Festival (original dates 10-21 April, postponed)
15th Meetings on the Bridge (moved online, read news)
(US) 19th Tribeca Film Festival (original dates 15-26 April, postponed)
(US) 33rd SXSW Festival (original dates 13-22 March, cancelled)